Faculty of Public Health calls for the health bill to be withdrawn

The Faculty of Public Health has called for the “complete withdrawal” of the Health and Social Care Bill after members voted overwhelmingly for their leaders to change policy.

The faculty surveyed its 3300 members after strong criticism of the board’s stance on the govenment’s health reforms surfaced at an emergency meeting in Birmingham on 25 January (BMJ 2012;344:e690, doi:10.1136/bmj.e690).

Of those responding, 93% said that the Health and Social Care Bill, if passed, would damage the NHS and the health of people in England.

Three-quarters of members called on the faculty to demand the complete withdrawal of the bill.